Chapter Eight: Literature of the Rasika Tradition in Hindi

Absorbed in the beauty, they go on gazing and will not release the mirrors from their hands.
One asks her reflection, “Who are you? From where have you come to live here?
Whose delicate daughter are you, so lovely and splendid from toenails to crown?
Who is your father and who your mother? Tell me every truth about yourself.”

Entranced by beauty, she forgets that the reflection is her own. At that moment Queen Sunayana arrives.
Seeing her mother, Sita returns to awareness: “This is my own reflection.
I had forgotten my shadow; there is no other woman here.”

In this way she continually performs countless joyful recreations, day and night.
Her mother watches in delight, finding in that supreme beauty the very home of happiness.

All the daughters of Nimi’s lineage behold Sita’s loveliness.
The entire assembly gathers joyfully and enters the palace to sport in rāsa.

As the enchanting princesses shine here, so the princes there are covered in immense beauty.
Loveliness surrounds them on every side, and seeing it my mind becomes exceedingly pleased.
Yet beholding them, love grows restless and fills the heart—why has such pain arisen?
Until Rama kisses those lips, no effort will bring happiness.

Crores of crimson veils shine, forming an enchanting treasury of beauty.
Sita revealed her own majesty, yet no one on earth could speak of it.
The king beheld the wondrous forms of Rama and Sita; that incomparable matter cannot be described.
He then offered many humble petitions, and Sita, pleased, attained happiness.

The king placed his question before her: “Explain the whole matter to me.
Who is the Supreme Person beyond all? What is his Name, and where does he dwell?
By whom were the fourteen worlds created, and into whom is the whole universe finally absorbed?”

Hearing her father’s words, she rejoiced deeply and Sita spoke these beautiful words.
That dialogue forms the lovely Sundarī Tantra, constituted of Sita’s wondrous and excellent speech:

“I know you eternally as my father, and you describe me as your daughter.
Beyond all is Sri Rama, dark in form and the supreme abode of happiness.
Between him and me there is no difference: our forms are distinct, yet in essential Reality we are one.

“Listen, father, to the abode in which we two eternally dwell together.
Beyond Prakriti lies Goloka, and within it stands the celebrated city.
The Vedas call it Ayodhya; Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva meditate upon it.
Uma, Lakshmi, and Brahmani sing its praise day and night.”